A rather depressing snapshot of the visitors to St Peter's in
Rome:
The most substantial damage [to Michaelangelo's Pietà statue in St Peters] occurred on May 21, 1972, (Pentecost Sunday) when a mentally disturbed geologist, the Hungarian-born Australian Laszlo Toth walked into the chapel and attacked the sculpture with a geologist's hammer while shouting "I am Jesus Christ; I have risen from the dead!". With fifteen blows he removed Mary's arm at the elbow, knocked off a chunk of her nose, and chipped one of her eyelids. Onlookers took many of the pieces of marble that flew off. Later, some pieces were returned, but many were not, including Mary's nose, which had to be reconstructed from a block cut out of her back.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet%C3%A0_(Michelangelo)#Damage
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